Judge rules against
Keopuka development

Meanwhile, a group asks a major
investor to withdraw from another
Kona project

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By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii >> Two related Kona residential developments opposed by environmentalists and Hawaiians are facing new difficulties.

Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra ruled yesterday that the state Land Use Commission acted properly last year when it determined that the 660-acre Keopuka Lands proposal near Kealakekua Bay could not be built on agriculturally designated land.

Separately, the Protect Keopuka Ohana announced that four of its members are in Japan to meet with Japan Airlines officials Monday asking the company to withdraw from the 1,540-acre Hokulia project, north of Keopuka Lands.

JAL is a major investor in Hokulia. Arizona developer Lyle Anderson is a major investor in both Hokulia and Keopuka.

Hokulia is already under development. Development of Keopuka was blocked when the Sierra Club asked the Land Use Commission to rule that such a project needed urban designation.

Before the commission could act, unusually heavy rain washed large amounts of dirt from Hokulia into the sea. The dirty water drifted toward Kealakekua Bay, a state marine conservation district.

The commission then voted against the project.

In its appeal before Ibarra, Pacific Star -- the company developing Hokulia -- argued that the commission violated the company's right to due process. The judge rejected the argument without comment.

Meanwhile, the Protect Keopuka Ohana has protested that previously undetected graves at Hokulia have been disturbed during construction.

The Hokulia development company, Oceanside 1250, confirmed that and apologized.

The Ohana said four Hawaiian descendants of the people buried at Hokulia asked the Japanese government at a Tokyo press conference yesterday to withdraw from the development. The government is a part-owner of JAL.

They will meet with JAL executives Monday to ask for an apology for damage to their ancestors' graves and to demand that the company withdraw.